Veralto vs Waste Management
Add, change or remove companies; up to four.
KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Veralto and Waste Management side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Waste Management is the larger business, with $25.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $5.5B for Veralto, about 4.6 times as much.
- Waste Management grew revenue faster (14.2%, against 6.0%).
- Veralto kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (23.2% operating margin, against 17.1%).
- Veralto turned more of its sales into free cash flow (18.4% FCF margin, against 11.2%).
- Veralto earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (28.1%, against 10.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Waste Management’s earnings: a P/E of 34.1x against 26.6x for Veralto.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Veralto
VLTO
7/10
Gross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDA
Waste Management
WM
2/10
Revenue growthShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | VLTO FY25 | WM FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $25.8B | $97.0B |
| Revenue | $5.5B | $25.2B |
| Free cash flow | $1.0B | $2.8B |
| Net income | $940M | $2.7B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.0% | 14.2% |
| 5-year growth | — | 10.6% |
| Share count change | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 60.0% | 40.4% |
| Operating margin | 23.2% | 17.1% |
| Net margin | 17.1% | 10.7% |
| FCF margin | 18.4% | 11.2% |
| Return on capital | 28.1% | 10.9% |
| Return on equity | 36.6% | 29.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $642M | $22.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.5x | 3.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $109M | $1.3B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 26.6x | 34.1x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.